Spain asks prosecutors to act against TikTok after Maldita.es finds 1,183 abuse videos

What the investigation found

Maldita.es, a Spanish organisation that works against disinformation, published its investigation on Monday, 9 November. It says it identified 1,183 explicit child sexual abuse videos on TikTok, which together have 48 million views and were posted by 231 profiles. Over 35 days, researchers analysed profiles, comments and live streams, and created their own accounts to see how the recommendation algorithm responded. Reports differ on the number of suspected paedophile profiles, with LaSexta citing more than 20,000 and EL PAÍS and eldiario.es citing 26,000. The research ran from 11 September to 15 October, and on its last day 59% of the profiles were still active, according to eldiario.es.

The investigators also documented 780 accounts that recruit buyers for this material, along with 91 live broadcasts of minors in 17 countries in which users request actions, sometimes sexual, in exchange for money, according to LaSexta. Activity was concentrated in Spain, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Russia, with evidence elsewhere in the European Union and Latin America. Some suspected paedophiles admitted holding material of their own children or nephews. Clara Jiménez Cruz, who leads Maldita.es according to eldiario.es, described the approach taken by the team.

“We have gone through TikTok the way a paedophile would, and the conclusion is that abuse is not hidden in a corner nor hard to find.”

TikTok's response to the reports

Maldita.es reported a sample of 50 videos to TikTok as illegal content. Those videos had 8.8 million views and more than 148,000 likes, according to Europa Press. TikTok removed five of them (10%) and blocked 13 (26%) in Spain only. It gave no answer on 6% and judged 58% not to break either the law or its own rules, although more than half of those were removed within 72 hours of the reports. Figures for accounts still active after that period differ: Europa Press puts the share at 38%, while EL PAÍS reports 40% three days after the reports. EL PAÍS also says TikTok asked only for more information and did not answer questions about its child protection mechanisms or the failures found.

Removed10%

Blocked in Spain only26%

No response6%

Judged not infringing58%

Removed

10 %

Blocked in Spain only

26 %

No response

6 %

Judged not infringing

58 %

Data from the article text

Government and prosecutors

The Ministry of Youth and Children sent a written request to the Attorney General's office (Fiscalía General del Estado) asking it to act and to take the measures needed to protect children and adolescents who may be affected. The ministry also raised the possibility of suspending TikTok's services in Spain. eldiario.es reports that prosecutors could ask for the platform's activity to be suspended. Minister Sira Rego has requested an urgent meeting with TikTok's representatives in Spain to hear the company's explanations and the measures it has taken. Ministry sources described the facts as extremely serious and called for an immediate, coordinated response from all competent authorities, nationally and in Europe. They also said the facts point to serious deficiencies in detection and moderation and in the role of TikTok's recommendation systems, which could amount to a violation of children's rights by the platform itself. Maldita.es has also filed its own complaint against TikTok with the prosecutor.

Wider context and platform scrutiny

Jiménez Cruz compared the platform with others in stark terms.

“TikTok cannot even be compared with other platforms when it comes to child sexual abuse.”

EL PAÍS tested some of the hashtags and keywords used in these communities and found new material extremely easy to locate. Searches for similar terms on Instagram, a Meta network, returned a warning that child sexual abuse is illegal and redirected users confidentially to a help centre. EL PAÍS argues that TikTok is also breaking European rules, citing the Digital Services Act. According to EL PAÍS, internal TikTok reports surfaced in 2022 through a US court case, in which the company admitted it had a paedophilia problem on the platform. Maldita.es had already published two earlier investigations on child sexual exploitation on TikTok, and this is its third.